Five Cormorants visit and argue over the sprinkler ducks!

We've often hosted a double-crested cormorant in our canal, and recently a pair, and had them rest on our sprinkler floating goose to dry their wings and look around.  To my surprise, today a group of 5 cormorants were swimming together in the canal and then going fishing together, diving under the water over and over.  We have so many fish in the canal it's no wonder that the cormorants like it here.   It was great to see them!  After a while there was some arguing over who had the right to climb on the floater goose to dry their wings.  One kept pushing the others off.  Sounds just like a family :-)

The cormorant family takes over the canal.

This guy won the coveted spot on the goose.

Couldn't score a goose spot so drying his wings on the go.

Speaking of drying out wings, the male anhinga was back drying out his wings in the backyard.  He used to use the sprinkler duck but now the cormorants have taken it over.

Those cormorants have stolen my spot.

 

The gallinule kids are turning into teenagers and changing their coloration and overall look.  It looks like we have gone down from three to two babies now.  Usually that means that one was taken by a predator, but when they reach this size, it is probably that he just separated from his parents and struck out on his own or was thrown out by his parents and forced to grow up and find his own place in the world.

The 3 kids hanging out by the canal's edge.

The parents and last two kids are coming over to eat.

In the canal a large bowfin swam around slowly.  He was easy to see in the still water.  Being so huge certainly helps with visibility.

Huge guy lumbering around in the canal

The iguanas are out and about, and many are quite young which is never a good sign.  The last thing I want is a healthy breeding population.  We have too many as is, and I hate that I can't plant some of my favorite plants in the yard anymore because they eat them to death.  I used to love my pink and red hibiscus plants and my purple bougainvillea, but they are all gone now thanks to the iguanas.

This curious guy has the bright green color of a youngster.

Another youngster making himself comfy on the dock rail.

 

I can't forget the Muscovy ducks who make the backyard their favorite haunt, as well as their favorite restaurant!  This is a photo of some of their family.

Some of the regular backyard boys and girls

Along the canal bank, one of the less common dragonflies stopped by for a rest.  It was a pintail pondhawk which always looks so funny with his thin straight tail and chunky body.

Checking out the weeds that bloomed near the water

Finally, a brief report on the four Monarch butterfly eggs on my milkweed plant..  They looked to be darkening, which is a sign that they were getting ready to hatch, and sure enough one did hatch today.  The caterpillar is miniscule at this point, but that will change fast as he starts to eat.